Under the bright sun and in front of a big crowd, Elian Baumann (SUI) won Friday’s 1.50m Edmond de Rothschild Prize at at Longines Jumping Crans-Montana.
Just like on Thursday, the Grand Prix qualifier finished with a win for the hosts – this time thanks to the 29-year-old Swiss rider that was the fastest of the twelve qualified for the jump-off in this Longines Ranking class. Stopping the clock at 35.63 seconds, Baumann took the win with the 11-year-old gelding Campari Z (Contact V.D. Heffinck x Platini M).
Robert Smith (GBR), already second in Thursday’s ranking class, was the first to put pressure on his competitors in the jump-off with a time of 37.65 aboard and Cimano E (Unaniem x Chemnitz). Then followed Belgium’s Christophe Vanderhasselt on Identity Vitseroel (Air Jordan Z x Darco), who pushed Smith down from the pole position with a time of 36.16 seconds before Elian Baumann managed to be faster.
"I'm in heaven,” smilied Elian after the Edmond de Rothschild Prize. “My horse Campari Z is wonderful, I never imagined such a result would come here. This is my first time competing at an international competition of this level.”
Text © World of Showjumping based on press release from Longines Jumping Crans-Montana
Picture © Longines Jumping Crans-Montana, Gallery Glance